A Modern History of Russian Childhood: From the Late Imperial Period to the Collapse of the Soviet Union

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A Modern History of Russian Childhood examines the changes and continuities in ideas about Russian childhood from the 18th to the 21st century. It looks at how children were thought about and treated in Russian and Soviet culture, as well as how the radical social, political and economic changes across the period affected children. It explains how and why childhood became a key concept both in Late Imperial Russia and in the Soviet Union and looks at similarities and differences to models of childhood elsewhere. Focusing mainly on children in families, telling us much about Russian and Soviet family life in the process, Elizabeth White combines theoretical ideas about childhood with examples of real, lived experiences of children to provide a comprehensive overview of the subject. The book also offers a comprehensive synthesis of a wide range of secondary sources in English and Russian whilst utilizing various textual primary sources as part of the discussion. This book is key reading for anyone wanting to understand the social and cultural history of Russia as well as the history of childhood in the modern world.

Reviews

Elizabeth White has written an excellent survey of the history of childhood in modern Russia, exploring both the evolution of theoretical concepts and cultural representations of childhood from the late 17th century to the post-Soviet era. Accessible and balanced in its argument, this book will greatly benefit students and scholars alike. * Dr Matthias Neumann, Senior Lecturer in Modern Russian History, University of East Anglia, UK *

Author Bio

Elizabeth White is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of the West of England, UK. She is the author of The Socialist Alternative to Bolshevik Russia: The Socialist Revolutionary Party, 1921-39 (2010) and co-editor of The Distanglement of Populations. Migration, Expulsion and Displacement in Postwar Europe, 1944-49 (2012).